“And Yisroel said to Yosef, ‘Are your brothers not shepherding in Shechem? Go, and I will send you to them.’ And he replied, ‘Behold, I am here (ready to go).’” (Bereshis 37:13)

As Chazal note, Yosef realized that making this trip to his brothers, without anyone else present, could mean serious trouble for him, but Yosef listened to his father and went to his brothers anyway. “He was alacritous to fulfill his father’s instruction, even though he knew that his brothers hated him.” (Rashi ibid., from Bereshis Rabbah)

If Yosef was so concerned about friction with his brothers and the potential consequences, why did he reveal his dreams to them, which would assuredly arouse animosity and perhaps lead to hazardous results? Yosef’s brothers resented him even before his dreams (Bereshis 37:4), and he saw that they disliked him even more after he told them about his first dream (ibid. v. 5); he then proceeded to tell them about his second dream (ibid. v. 9-10). Why, if Yosef was concerned about his brothers’ animosity and the possible consequences, did he tell them about his dreams, which would assuredly only further inflame the hatred?  

By the same token, Yosef was only 17 years old at the time. His brothers, with the exception of Binyomin, were older; they had already established families and were mature adults. Why then did they take Yosef so seriously, to the point of almost killing him and actually selling him as a slave? Most people would dismiss or perhaps be annoyed by a younger brother bragging about his greatness, even if he was favored and he told their father bad things about them. Kids – even older ones – have a knack for tattling on their siblings and irritating them, often in serious ways. Why did Yosef’s brothers react so extremely? No one is justifying Yosef’s actions or the brothers’ reactions, but why did Yosef and his brothers do what they did? Why did Yosef incite them with his dreams and why didn’t they ignore him or respond less severely?

Underlying the clash between Yosef and his brothers was a fundamental dispute as to how the Jewish nation would develop. Yosef perceived from the accounts of his father and grandfather that the development of the B’nei Yisroel was occurring through a selection in each generation of a specific and special person to carry on the Mesorah (Torah tradition) and lead the nation. Yitzchak was selected over Yishmael for this purpose, and Yaakov was selected over Eisav. Yosef, who had received the fullness of his father’s Mesorah and was very charismatic, seemed to be the natural one to lead. Although he was a younger brother, so were Yitzchak and Eisav younger brothers, and the fact that Yosef was Yaakov’s closest talmid (student) and had received the royal, colorful robe from him, signaled to Yosef that he was the natural successor to Yaakov. Yosef realized that his future assumption of leadership would be quite controversial, but he relied on very good precedent for this, well aware of the controversies between his father and grandfather and their brothers, which were ultimately necessary for his father and grandfather to become the next of the Avos (Patriarchs). Yosef looked back to their situations and felt that he needed to do as he did.

Yosef’s brothers were in fundamental disagreement. Unlike the families of Avrohom and Yitzchak, which had a Yishmael and an Eisav, Yaakov’s family was comprised of tzaddikim – no bad apples. (V. Rashi on Bereshis 35:22, from Gemara Shabbos.) The brothers were confident that B’nei Yisroel would no longer develop via the selection of the good brother over the bad brother to serve as the next leader, but that B’nei Yisroel would now enter a new phase of expansion, with twelve very decent brothers all cultivating future generations together. The brothers viewed Yosef’s actions to further his plan as placing the future of the entire nation in mortal jeopardy, and they felt that they had no choice but to to take harsh action. Again, no one is justifying what happened; however, we must understand the motivations from both sides, which on the surface appear to lack reason.

Who was ultimately correct? It would seem that both sides were correct in their views of the future development of K’lal Yisroel. There was definitely a need for a central leader – who turned out to be Yehudah and his progeny, who later served as kings in the Jewish commonwealth. However, each Shevet had its own unique and vital role as well. The Levi’im and Kohanim had a paramount role in the future nation, as did each Shevet in its own singular and special way.

Among the many lessons to be learned, aside from siblings getting along with patience and love and not being favored for any reason, as Chazal expound, is that everyone has his own exceptional and incomparable role in K’lal Yisroel, but that at the same time, specific leaders are needed, and we should accept and certainly not resent this fact. This combination of individualism and central leadership forms the beautiful tapestry of avodas Hashem (service of God) that K’lal Yisroel was charged to become. May we live up to this holy mandate.